Bishop blesses the winter gritting teams

Prayers for the trucks and snowploughs are becoming a tradition in Lincolnshire. Our religious affairs correspondent
Riazat Butt discovers that they've even prompted a request under the Freedom of Information Act

Bishop blesses the winter gritting teams

Prayers for the trucks and snowploughs are becoming a tradition in Lincolnshire. Our religious affairs correspondent
Riazat Butt discovers that they've even prompted a request under the Freedom of Information Act

Tuesday 22 November 2011 10.26 EST
First published on Tuesday 22 November 2011 10.26 EST

When Jesus was giving his Sermon on the Mount, he blessed the peacemakers, the poor in spirit, the meek and so on. Last week the bishop of Lincoln Christopher Lowson was in Sturton on Stow's West Lindsey Highways Depot and found himself blessing the men and machines that will take to Lincolnshire's roads this winter to keep them clear of the white stuff.

My esteemed colleague Martin Wainwright assures me that Lincoln is northern in presence, if not in spirit, so please no maps.

In need of prayers - and council budget-setters might appreciate a blessing service as well. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

But back to Lowson. According to the Gainsborough Target, Lowson led prayers at Sturton – "one of eight depots across England's fourth largest county" and said that people relied on Lincolnshire's roads for work, medical appointments, visiting family and shopping. He said:

We all have a duty to use the roads sensibly and carefully to ensure the safety of ourselves and others. And we are enormously grateful for the hard work of those who salt the roads in all hours and in all weathers. This is an opportunity to pray for them in their work, and to remember the responsibility we all have to drive responsibly.

So what does a bishop say when he is blessing the gritters?

Father, we pray for safety on our roads, for those who maintain the highways and streets of our county that all road-users may travel with confidence. We pray for all who exercise responsibly of traffic-control, and in particular, our Police Officers, that they may at all times carry out their required duties with care and consideration; with compassion and due regard for the welfare of all road-users, and that they in turn receive courteous cooperation from members of the public. O Lord our God; we seek your blessing upon our roads this winter-time, asking for your protection and your guidance for those who travel on the roads of our county day and night. Instill in us all Father, the virtue of patience, understanding, courtesy and common sense, praying that we may all drive with due care and regard for our fellow-road-users.

Excellent stuff.

The blessings are supported by Lincolnshire County Council Highways, Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, Lincolnshire Police and Churches Together in All Lincolnshire and Lowson follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, John Saxbee, who started the tradition in 2003. Last year, while still in office and on the verge of carrying out his ultimate blessing of the gritters (blitters? gressings?) he revealed that "past ceremonies had been followed by a reduction in road deaths, which was "perhaps not a coincidence"."

Dr John Saxbee, the previous bishop, who started the ceremony in 2003. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images